My career has been mainly in luxury hospitality – prior to Salon Studios I worked in a leading luxury sustainable resort in the Maldives, I sold floating real estate onboard the only residential ship in the world (aptly called ‘The World’) and I was the UK Marketing Director for Malmaison boutique hotels for many years. Oh, and I was also part of the management team on Richard Branson’s private island (Necker)!

What inspired you to launch your business and what is the end goal?

It came down to the fact that it is such a simple and brilliant idea and I couldn’t understand why nobody else had done it!  The end goal is to have Salon Studios locations across the country, with a supportive community offering annual events, training and more. 

How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?

At the moment, we are the first and the only model like this in the UK, so we have a window of first movers’ advantage.  

Salon Studios makes it possible for self-employed hair and beauty professionals to have their own salon space for the same they would pay to rent a chair elsewhere.  For a fixed weekly fee, they get so much more than they get anywhere else.  They don’t have to worry about unexpected bills, and they call the shots on everything – manage their hours, prices, music, style… and the added pride of seeing their own name above the door.  It’s so simple; there is no easier way for a hair or beauty pro to have their own business. 

I know that will only last for a short time, as the large companies from USA have their eyes on the UK and are looking for sites. I asked our incumbent salonpreneurs about this and they advised me that they like the personal touch of Salon Studios and would choose this over a large USA backed company; it made me realise that the small details count.

Keeping an eye on the numbers in any business is important. How do you ensure that you’re always up to date?

I subscribe to a lot of industry boards for official statements and am a member of a number of more informal groups on social media, so I build an understanding from all levels.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?

There’s a huge amount to do before you can even open the doors!

With all the success stories around entrepreneurship and how innovative people have to be to take the leap, how do you think you’ve innovated your sector and why?

I see Salon Studios as disruptive innovation - the concept of Salon Studios is to the hair and beauty industry what UBER was to taxis and Air BnB to hotels… it’s a new choice, a simple alternative that offers more than people currently get (a chair or a booth in somebody else’s business premises); the incumbent businesses are not comfortable with that and their initial reaction is to criticize. I’ve had people cut my hair and, when asked what I do respond ‘oh I can’t imagine life without a receptionist’ or ‘I couldn’t get through the day without a junior doing shampoos’.  It’s fascinating to see how different people react. I’ve been in the same situation with other hairdressers who say ‘if that had been around when I started this salon 20 years ago I would have taken your studio without hesitation!’.   

The salonpreneur sees that the receptionist is not necessary when they manage bookings from their phone and that washing a client’s hair isn’t so bad after all.  These are small sacrifices for the many other benefits of having your own Salon Studio. It was the same with Air BnB and UBER in the beginning – people justified why they wouldn’t get in a car with a stranger or stay in somebody’s house… now it’s normal life! 

Disruptive innovation will always make people feel uncomfortable but ultimately, they can get onboard with it and adapt their business or bury their head in the sand. The salon suite model is here to stay and I can’t wait to see how popular this will become over the next few years!

What are your thoughts on failure?

It’s a simple fact of life – when you look at people like James Dyson or Sara Blakely, they failed so many more times than they succeeded.  What’s important is that you learn from it.  There is a brilliant quote by Winston Churchill that has always guided me “success if not final, failure is not fatal, it’s the courage to continue that counts”.  I believe that’s true – failure is not a full stop in entrepreneurship, it’s a comma.

Do you have a morning routine or ritual to get your day started on the right foot?

I would love to tell you that I get up and do an hour’s yoga followed by meditation but that’s not true (although I am a big believer in the benefits of both!).  My routine is to get up early, start my day with a latte, eat a nutritious breakfast and hit the to-do list… all before the rest of the world awakes! I love those quiet early hours in the morning when you can get a lot done!

If you could be in a room with 4 entrepreneurs, who would they be and why?

1. Chip Conley – as the Founder of ‘Joie de Vivre’ (a very eclectic boutique hotel company on the west coast of USA), Chip managed to grow his business during the last recession.  When the bigger well-known names were closing hotels down, Chip took Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs and applied it to his customers, investors and employees.  He has published several best-selling books and is very much a straight talker (which, as a Scot is appealing to me!).  

   His story is so inspiring and he gives great advice. I would encourage all entrepreneurs to read his book ‘PEAK’. As somebody who has been in the hospitality industry for the majority of my life and a fan of Maslow’s hierarchy, I would have a great chat with Chip… not everybody’s favourite topic, but I would really enjoy it!

2. The late Chet Holmes – Chet was the author of ‘The Ultimate Sales Machine’ which is one of the best books I’ve ever read on selling.  I am a big believer in the power of stories in the sales process and Chet’s advice is valuable to everybody in business, not just sales. I would ask him to help me perfect my ‘stadium pitch’ which is something he came up with – imagine you are in a huge stadium of your ideal target market and you have the opportunity to sell to them – what exactly would you say (bearing in mind, they are not obliged to stay, they can leave as soon as they lose interest).   

3. Elon Musk –I love Elon’s story!  He comes from a really interesting family and had an entrepreneurial spirit from a very young age.  He was born in South Africa and migrated to Canada/USA to avoid military service and landed in the states just at the right time as the internet boom kicked off.  Elon focuses on products that are so bold and potentially life-changing – Paypal, Tesla, Space X and now The Boring Company. There are always stories we don’t hear about so I would try to get into that, I’m sure it’s not boring! 

4. Sara Blakely – Sara is the founder of Spanx.  An entrepreneur in every sense of the word, she had a problem, found a solution and worked her socks off to make it happen.  She faced setbacks and was resourceful and resilient in pushing through. She is very philanthropic and supportive of female entrepreneurs.  Sara started out selling fax machines and used to get so nervous doing sales calls that she would drive around the block to try and calm her nerves.  She seems very relatable and the kind of person you could be friends with so I’m sure we could have a great and fun chat!

What are your top tips for entrepreneurs wanting to get their business out there?

If it was easy, everybody would do it!  It’s not easy but it’s worth it.  If you really believe in your idea, just do it.  Be brave and go for it.  What you don’t know you will either learn along the way or find somebody else that does know!  We are so lucky with social media and the internet that it is much easier now to get your name out there.  There is a lot of ‘noise’ so you have to find a way to stand out and that takes creativity and perseverance!

What plans do you have for Salon Studios over the next two years?

We will be opening at least two more locations. Once we get to 4/5 locations I intend to franchise the model so we can grow nationwide and build on the momentum.  Since launch, I have had enquiries from all over the country – some location that I would expect and some surprises but great food for thought.

How important is company culture and what is your top tip to get it right?

To me culture is everything – essentially ‘the way we do things around here’ should always start at the top and come through in everything you do – dealing with customers and staff.

Any new product launches we should know about?

We should have news on our 2nd location very soon – watch this space!  It will be double the size of our first location and we already have salonpreneurs interested in getting the prime studios!

I recently launched the Salonpreneur to support all self-employed hair and beauty professionals who need guidance with the business side – from start-up planning to finance and marketing, I have created a private members group and in the first week have had more than 100 sign ups!

What’s the single most important decision that you made, that contributed to your business?

Just doing it!  Bringing this concept to the UK and being the first company to do it.  As mentioned before, I realise it’s only a matter of time until others do this; the potential of this in the UK is huge. For the first time ever more than 50% of hairdressers in the UK are self-employed, so the timing is critical.

How did you fund the launch of your business and what creative strategies did you use to execute a minimal cash flow?

The beauty of this business (pardon the pun) is that it is very lean.  We have no unnecessary expenses, so this saving is passed on to the salonpreneurs.  Ie, we have no receptionists or junior staff and everybody that I have used so far has been outsourced – from our cleaners, to our creative support (marketing/PR/social media).  The largest cost was the remodel (taking our location from an unloved office to a stylish salon space which offer security, privacy, dedicated ventilation and sound proofing).

How did you conquer those moments of doubt that so often affect entrepreneurs or stop many with great ideas – what pushes you through?

When you think about it, every business (regardless of how large or small it is now) started with somebody, somewhere having an idea and being able to turn that idea into reality. The difference in entrepreneurs is that they have those moments of doubt but do it anyway.  They know there are risks but they press ahead regardless.  I think we all have those wobbles; we are all only human after all! 

It’s important to keep things in perspective - what I’m doing with Salon Studios is not a life or death situation, so the worst-case scenario is that the business won’t work, and it has to close down.  That would be a big blow and very disappointing but at least I would know I tried and gave it my best shot!  Ultimately if you don’t try something then you never know and that’s what makes me push ahead.  

Very often we are our own worst enemies, everything has a solution and it’s important to remain positive and not get overwhelmed when you have those moments of doubt.  As Chet Holmes would say you need to do it with pig-headed determination!

What’s the most important question entrepreneurs should be asking themselves?

At time of writing, how COVID proof is this business?  I think we will see a lot of change over the coming months and years as social distancing really takes effect. It really depends on the sector, but I would also ask – is this Amazon proof and recession proof as these seem to be the biggest threats to the high street nowadays.

How do you believe the evolution of tech will affect your industry over the next 10 years?

Online scheduling is becoming more popular as it is so straightforward. The power of reviews and social media will continue to build – customer service and service recovery will need to be a big focus for all hair and beauty pro’s as these reviews can make or break a business.

Were you nervous at the outset?

This might sound crazy but no!  From the moment I heard about this salon suite model in the USA I knew I had to bring it to the UK.  I would say there has been a lot of excitement as there’s been a lot of ‘firsts’:

1. first salonpreneur taking a studio

2. first time somebody says they have heard about your model

3. first time somebody said ‘thanks, I could not have done this without you’

but nerves?  No…

Any moments where you thought you’ve bitten off more than you can chew? 

I haven’t refurbished a hair or beauty salon before so that was an adventure! I wasn’t prepared for the amount of education that is required when you introduce a completely new model to an industry. There’s been a lot of time spent explaining how it works (which is funny – it’s so simple that people generally think there’s something missing and it can’t be so straightforward?!).  Some people are very open and like change and others are very cynical.  I appreciate that something like this is disruptive to a sector that has been fairly predictable for many years and that people are uneasy with that.

What do you think gives a brand longevity?

It comes down to one word – relevance.  You need to continually evolve to meet the market.  When you look at the big names that have disappeared over the last 5-10 years such as HMV, Borders, Toys R Us, British Home Stores, they lost sight of the competitive landscape, who they were serving and perhaps let hubris get in the way.  Their ego would not allow them to believe that they were failing. 

The Porters 5 forces model keeps this simple – a business needs to be aware of:

1.     threat of new entrants

2.     bargaining power of suppliers

3.     bargaining power of customers

4.     threat of substitutes

5.     competitive rivalry

If you stay on top of what is happening in the market with all of these and evolve as the consumer needs change, your business should be in a strong position to have a longer life span.